A stainless steel and eighteen carat gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust reference 16013 with a Tiffany & Co. signed dial.This is perhaps one of the all time icon Rolex watches; a two-tone, coin edge bezel, Datejust with champagne dial. This watch turns up in film, advertising and on most wrists of the upwardly mobile in the 1970's and '80's.This original dial remains untouched, and in excellent condition featuring all the original Tritium lume plots in tact that have toned into a light ivory colour. The printing is the classic serif text in black, which really stands out from the dial, and are complimented by the outer minute track with small hash marks. A dial some prefer over the smaller Roman chapter rigs found on these models. The classic, solid gold, baton hands also contain the original luminous material, which matches the plots perfectly, and respond the same under ultraviolet light.
Rolex and Tiffany & Co. began a partnership in the 1950’s that allowed the luxury jewellery company to print its name on the Rolex dials that were to be sold in its boutiques. The original Tiffany-signed Rolex dials were completed by hand at their flagship store in New York City. This printing was then extended to other retail stores and then eventually to Tiffany’s service centers.
In the early 1990s, Rolex made the decision to stop supplying co-branded watches, and would no longer honour warranties if the dial stampings had been carried out at a Tiffany & Co. location. As a result, Tiffany & Co. stopped selling Rolex watches, and the two companies parted ways for good.
The dial is stamped "T Swiss T" at the six o'clock position, meaning that it contains tritium luminous material. This material replaced the highly dangerous, and radioactive Radium in 1963. Just like radium, tritium was also radioactive; however, it came with a much lower level of radiation and a much shorter half-life. While tritium was exponentially safer than radium, it only had a half-life of twelve years. This meant that after just a few decades, only a tiny fraction of the initial luminescence would remain. Additionally, as tritium ages, the color changes, which creates often beautiful, and highly sought after patinas on the luminous markers on these older Rolex watches. Tritium was far from perfect, which lead Rolex to search for a better alternative, which happened in 1998 with the introduction of Luminova. The Tritium in this case is all original to the dial, is in perfect condition with every lume plot in tact and in perfect condition.
The watch is powered by a Rolex, Swiss made, twenty seven jewel automatic calibre 3035 movement that powered all of the acrylic crystal Datejust quick set date models, such as this. These models can be told apart from one another as they do not have the earlier, characteristic, 'pie pan' style dial. They have the newly designed completely flat dials. Otherwise, they look very similar to their early 1603 predecessors.
This case has the spring bar holes exposed from the side; a 'holes' case, which was phased out around the early 2000's. The watch is fitted to its original Rolex Jubilee stainless steel and eighteen carat gold bracelet with four removable links in place, which, if needed, can be removed to make the bracelet smaller. The clasp is stamped "J12" for the twelfth month of 1985 production. There is a little sag to it, but nothing out of place from nearly forty years of careful wear.
The watch was made circa 1986 with serial number 911XXXX. The watch is in original condition, showing signs of light polishing to case. However, the case is very strong, with thick lugs.
The Datejust is perhaps one of the most produced models by Rolex, but if one model was to be listed as an example of the "Datejust" reference, it would be this; two tone with gold dial. This example with having the bonus addition of being Tiffany & Co. retail signed is a real plus. Tiffany is experiencing somewhat of a renaissance now under its new ownership which has seen demand for anything associated with the brand rise in price and collectibility. Add the Rolex brand name, and it is a powerful combination.
The watch comes with a Foundwell one year warranty against mechanical failure.
